4QQ 



Rhea. Lastly. Bromax (cf. also Gaupp p. 1124) has sho^ii that the 

 foot-plate of the stapes of Man is conuected by a cartilaginous bridge, 

 their interhyale. with Reichert's cartilage, i. e. with the hyoid; this 

 interhyale disappears, whereupon the end of the hyoid, thus broken 

 loose, ultimately attaches itself to the labyrinthic capsule. 



The upper part of the hyoid undergoes many vicissitudes in its 

 connexions and reductions. Taking into account what was known be- 

 fore, and what Versluts^i. Bromann. Gaupp. Klngsley, Howes, 

 SuscHEZN* and others have since found out, we can now recognise the 

 following conditions and changes, which are of course not necessarily 

 successive stages in every animal. For brevity's sake I shall use the 

 term medio-columellar mass, excluding thereby the proximal end of the 

 stapes and those vaiious extracolumellar processes which are attached 

 to tympanum, quadrate, skull, or which are continued to the mandible. 

 Purposely the line of demarcation between columella or stapes and 

 extracolumella or incus malleus is left in abeyance: 



Fig. 2. Some of the modifiearions of the Hvoid. 



1) I am greatly indebted to Dr. Versluys for much iniormatioa 

 and advice by correspondence about the probable changes undergone 

 by the hyoid. 



